Unwanted Visitors
by Scrawlers
Summary: Deputy Headmaster James Stone decides to pay a visit to the Tyler estate to talk about Tony's disciplinary record. Considering the animosity between them and Tony's insistence on investigating anything alien combined with his burning desire to travel in the TARDIS, it goes about as well as you would expect.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who or any of its properties. If I did, Steven Moffat would not be in charge right now.

**Notes: **This was written forever ago and posted to Tumblr. In an attempt to update this account with some things, I decided to post it here. Takes place when Tony is sixteen.

* * *

><p><strong>Unwanted Visitors<strong>

* * *

><p>"What."<p>

It wasn't too unusual for Tony to borrow one of the Doctor's verbal tics. It was well known around the Tyler household that one of his lifelong ambitions was to be able to say "allons-y" before launching either an insane plan or a brilliant adventure (or, if he was truly blessed, both at the same time), and he had a penchant for exclaiming that anything he liked was "brilliant," from the newest video editing software to his favorite chippy. But this time, the reasoning behind the borrowed catchphrase was a bit unclear; whether it was a conscious decision that the flat "what" was the best way to express his unimpressed shock, or whether it was a reflexive reaction given the current situation, the word left his mouth before his brain had fully finished processing the fact that Deputy Headmaster James Stone was seated in his father's study.

"Look who finally decided to walk in," Stone said, and Tony scowled, running his tongue along his teeth. "Took the scenic route getting home, did you?"

"I had something I needed to pick up on the way, thanks," Tony said, and then turned his eyes to his father, who was seated behind the large mahogany desk. "Dad, what's he doing here?"

"Deputy Headmaster Stone wanted to set up a meeting to discuss your progress in school. I asked him to stop by since I've been working from home this week." His father's tone suggested he was already tired, or that he and Stone had already been talking, but either way, Tony didn't think the meeting with _Deputy Headmaster Stone _was going to help matters any. "Take a seat, Tony."

Tony dropped into one of the spinny chairs in front of the desk, used for when his father gave presentations in the study. To his left, Stone looked more smug than ever, and Tony folded his arms across his chest.

"This is pointless," Tony said, and his father closed his eyes with a weary sigh. The smug smirk on Stone's smug face didn't fade a bit, and Tony wanted to punch it right the smug off. "My 'progress' in school is fine. My marks have gone up. You saw the report two months ago, Dad, and not much has changed since then. So can we end this so I can go? I have things to do."

"This isn't just about your marks, Tony," his father said, "though I don't think your current marks are much to write home about. Not when I know you can do better." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I'm wasting my potential, ruining my chances at what you think is an ideal future, and a lot of other stuff I don't care to listen to again." His father frowned, his eyebrows knitting together like they always did before he launched into a lecture, so Tony changed the subject before he could. "If this isn't about my marks, what is it about, then?"

"Your disciplinary record," Stone said, and he indicated a manila folder bearing Tony's name that sat on his father's desk. Tony groaned and let his head flop back to hit the back of the chair, his right foot spinning the chair left and then right, back and forth. "I believe it's time we get this sorted, don't you?"

"No, actually, I don't." Tony lifted his head back up to glare at Stone, though he didn't stop moving his chair back and forth. The movement helped him relax. "I actually think it's time for you to leave. Don't you have family back home, Stone? Someone else's life to ruin for once? 'Course, I feel bad thinking about whatever spawn you had, but knowing this planet's luck they're just as bad as you—"

"Tony, that's enough," his father said, and as he did with all other warnings, Tony ignored the one in his father's tone.

"Is it? 'Cause I'm just getting started. Like, for instance, why is this even an issue to you? Compulsory education ends at sixteen. I should be allowed to do whatever I want and yet, because of you, I'm still going to bloody school. Isn't that enough? I'm doing what you want. Why can't you be satisfied?"

"I can't be satisfied because you aren't applying yourself," his father said, and Tony scoffed a laugh. "Going through the motions doesn't mean much. It's the work you put into it that matters. Why do you think we have all this? Do you think it's because I did the bare minimum?"

"No, of course not. It's because you worked your way up from nothing, isn't it? Think that's the success story they sell nowadays."

"You're right. It's because I worked hard. Because I applied myself, and that's exactly what you need to do. Life doesn't come easy, Tony, and no matter what you think you can't just gallivant off the moment you turn nineteen—"

"Oh, can't I?" Tony sat up straighter in his chair, and fixed his father with a challenging stare that he'd inherited from his mother. "I think I can. I think I've already got my ticket out of here for good." Well, not exactly for good—he couldn't abandon his mother completely like that—but the point was made and his father knew it.

"Not if I have anything to say about it, you don't," his father said quietly. "Things in life have to be earned, Tony, and you haven't earned that one."

Tony opened his mouth to point out the fact that his father didn't have a say on whether or not he'd earned anything (or at least the TARDIS key they were discussing), but Stone interrupted him before he could.

"As riveting as this discussion is, I'd like to pull our attention back to Tony's disciplinary file. After looking through his most recent transgressions—"

"Which include, what?" Tony asked, and he fixed Stone with a glare of feigned interest. "Breathing too loud in my last detention? Cracking the occasional smile or laugh during school? Unacceptable, that. We all know I'm supposed to do nothing but sit there and be miserable all day."

This time, his father didn't even bother to scold him. Instead, armed with the look of a man who'd lived a thousand lifetimes, he looked at Stone and merely said, "Please continue."

Stone smirked, and once again, Tony was nearly overcome with the urge to knock his yellowed teeth down his throat. "Gladly." He picked up the manila folder and opened it, looking down at a paper within it as he began speaking. "As I was saying, after perusing his most recent transgressions—which include, as Tony was wondering, fighting in the refectory after lunch last Wednesday—"

"I was ganged up on," Tony said, suddenly conscious of the still healing bruise around his left eye. "Hardly see why I'm the only one that was punished for that when it was four on one."

"—breaking the telly in classroom 1A—"

"I thought the Wire was possessing it. It was an honest mistake." His father gave him a _look_, so he added, "There were sparks coming out of the back! If anything, it was broken before I got a hold of it, but you can't fault me for checking."

"—accusing Professor Swanson of being an alien—"

"Not just any alien. A raxacorica—raxicaric—raxicaci—_rax-i-co-ri-co-fa-la-pa-tor-i-an_. Hard to say, that one. Gets me every time. Anyway, I asked her if she was a—you know—and it wasn't without reason. Raxi—er, those ones—they wear skin suits, you know, they fit themselves in the skin of a human or whatever they're impersonating, but this causes them to look as though they've gained a great deal of weight in a short amount of time, because of some sort of exchange or whatever, I don't remember the details." Tony's father put his head in his hands, and Tony, feeling defensive, hastily continued. "Since Professor Swanson did, it was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. And I did _ask_, I didn't _accuse_. Just because she may be an alien from another planet that might have murdered an innocent person and wore their skin doesn't necessarily mean she's _evil_. Determining that would come _after _she confessed."

"—_and _broke into the school records room after hours, claiming that it was for 'investigative purposes.'" Stone closed the folder and set it back upon the desk. "Professor Swanson, by the by, has a medical condition concerning her thyroid gland. It's a sensitive matter. She doesn't enjoy discussing it."

"And yet you're sharing it at leisure. What an upstanding boss you are," Tony said, and then looked over at his father. "I did go into the records room for investigative purposes, by the way. You see, I think there's a chance that the school administration has been involved in—"

"Enough, Tony," his father said, and Tony sat back in his chair and glared at the ceiling. "It's clear to me that your behavior hasn't gotten any better from what happened February before last. If anything, it's gotten worse."

"It's stayed the same," Tony argued. "This has been going on for years. People at school hate me, I hate them, and I have a driving need to investigate any suspicious, potentially alien activity. You know this, and you know what will fix it, too."

"I'm beginning to suspect I do," his father said, but his tone made Tony more wary than excited. Stone laced his fingers together over his stomach.

"As do I. Mind if I make a suggestion, Mr Tyler?" Tony's father waved one hand in a gesture for him to do just that. "Boarding school."

"Boarding school," Tony repeated flatly. Stone nodded.

"Yes. Specifically of the military variety. Most military schools have training regiments that I'm sure would whip you right into shape."

Tony couldn't help it. He laughed, short and loud, and right in Stone's face. "Yeah. I think I'll pass. And even if I didn't, Mum would never stand for it. And even if she _did_, Rose and the Doctor would rescue me."

"I think you'll find that military school is quite different from the luxury life you've been allowed to lead so far," Stone said. "I'm sure your sister and that . . . whoever you mentioned wouldn't be able to 'rescue' you."

Tony raised his eyebrows, a little smug smile of his own tilting his lips. "I think _you'll _find that you don't know Rose. There's nothing she can't do. I have half a mind to go to military school just so she can prove you wrong."

"While I won't give comment on Rose or the Doctor," Tony's father said, and both Stone and Tony looked back to him, "Tony has a point about Jackie. I can't imagine military school would go over very well with her." Tony mouthed a little 'ha' at Stone as his father continued. "But it's something to consider all the same. We'll discuss it."

This time it was Stone's turn to give Tony a triumphant look, and Tony looked at his father with indignation. "Wait—are you serious?" His father looked at him in silence and Tony, feeling completely floored, fell back against his chair. "Oh my god. I can't believe I'm hearing this right now. You're serious."

"This behavior can't continue, Tony," his father said. "The disruptions you're causing in school aside, you're out of control and you have been for a long while now. I thought you might improve—"

"Improve? There's nothing wrong with me!" Tony sat up in his chair again, gripping both armrests in vicegrips. "All I'm trying to do is live my life! You're the one trying to control everything—"

"I'm trying to make sure that you have a safe and secure future—"

"That isn't what I want! I don't want safe, or—or secure, I want something that _means _something, I want—"

"A life here can mean something—"

"A life sitting in an office, filing paperwork, going to corporate meetings? What the Hell does that mean, to anyone?"

"It means success and stability and a steady future!" Tony's father rarely raised his voice, but even when he did, Tony found it impossible to feel anything even remotely close to fear. "It means not breaking the law or gallivanting around getting into situations that could get you killed! It means not worrying your mother half to death or causing trouble for those around you."

"Rose isn't causing trouble for anyone," Tony said quietly. "Rose is a hero. She's saved the world—she's saved the _universe_. Multiple universes, even. And she did it all without A-levels."

"Rose causes more trouble than you think," his father said. "And so does the Doctor. The life they lead isn't all stars and wonder, Tony. It's a lot more than you're ready for—than you'll ever be ready for."

"Yeah?" Tony's father nodded, and Tony stood up from his chair. "Well, I think I'll take my chances, thanks."

"Don't walk out that door," his father said, but Tony, in his usual manner of doing the exact opposite of what he was told, ignored him. "Tony!" Tony didn't bother to shut the door behind him; instead, he walked at a brisk pace down the corridor and around the bend into the foyer just in time to see the front door open, and his older sister and brother-in-law walk in.

"Oh, thank god," he said, and without giving Rose a moment to process what was happening, strode forward to throw his arms around her shoulders. "You couldn't have come at a better time. Take me away from here. Far away from here. Please. Pretend I'm nineteen if you have to, just get me _out_."

"Tony? What's all this about?" Rose returned his hug, but only briefly before she pulled away to fix him with a concerned look. "Something the matter? Mum and Dad okay?"

"Mum's fine. Or, I'm guessing she's fine. I don't know, haven't seen her. But Dad's lost his mind. More so than usual, anyway." Tony looked over at the Doctor, who was standing just behind Rose. "Hi, Doctor."

"Good to see you, Tony-boy. Though, this isn't exactly the welcome we were expecting." The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck as footsteps sounded in the hallway just behind Tony. "Guess we're about to find out what's amiss, then?"

"Looks like it," Rose said, and Tony turned in time to see his father and Stone step out of the foyer, Stone's eyes going immediately to Rose's face. Tony's father, too, looked at Rose and the Doctor, and his expression relaxed slightly upon seeing them.

"Rose, Doctor—good to see you both. I expect you'll be staying for dinner?"

"That was the plan," the Doctor said, but his voice was more strained than before—almost angry. Before Tony could question it, his father looked back to him.

"Did you hear a word that I said to you before? About not leaving my office? Tell me, what is it that you hear when I speak? Does it sound like white noise?"

"Something like that," Tony said, and the anger in his father's glare reached Sontaran levels. Beside his father, Stone took a couple steps forward, a nauseatingly flirtatious smile on his face as he extended a hand to Rose.

"You must be the infamous Rose Tyler. I've heard a lot about you," he said. "I'd like to hear more. From you, if possible."

"Rose, don't let him touch you," Tony said in a mock undertone. "He's a slimy git, and I think that sort of thing is contagious."

"Yes," Rose said, and her voice was tight and distressed as well, though in a slightly different way than the Doctor's had been. "I know."

As concerned as he was by Rose's reaction to Stone—and the Doctor's, too, considering that the Doctor looked tensed and ready to maim—Tony couldn't help but turn and laugh outright as the smile slid from Stone's face. "She's got your number, mate," he said. "Sorry, but if you want to hit on married women, you're going to have to go elsewhere."

"Speaking of going elsewhere, we have somewhere to be, don't we?" the Doctor asked suddenly. "Somewhere that doesn't involve me committing homicide this afternoon?"

"Yes, actually. I forgot something in the . . . well . . . something." Rose looked to her father, who was looking at her in confusion. "We'll see you and Mum at dinner tonight, yeah? A good old family get together. We've got gifts. We'll bring them."

"All right. I'll see you both then. In the meantime, Tony, Deputy Headmaster Stone and I weren't finished speaking with you."

"Actually, I think I've got to help Rose and the Doctor," Tony said, and he began walking backwards, following their hasty retreat out of the front doors. "You know how that something is. It's very something, and all that. Very something and very important. So, Deputy Headmaster Stone, no thanks for stopping by. It's been awful. I'll thank you never to stop by again."

"Don't take another step near that door," his father said, starting toward him. Tony spun on his heel and all but bolted for the front doors. "Anthony Michael Tyler—!"

The front door slammed before his father could finish his sentence, and Tony sprinted for Rose and the Doctor's retreating backs.


End file.
